How to play
SPIKE is a match between two slimes either side of a net. The only rule is that the ball must not touch the sand on your side. There is no limit on touches, so you can keep heading the ball up on your own side for as long as you like before you send it over. Every time the ball lands, the player on the other side gets the point. The first to eleven wins, and there is no need to win by two.
Each point starts with a serve. The ball sits above the server’s head until it is launched. In a one-player game you serve with a click, a tap or Space, and the computer serves by itself once the score message has cleared. In a two-player game the left slime serves with W (or a click) and the right slime with ↑. Whoever won the last point serves the next one. The ball also bounces off the side walls, and the net is solid: clip the top and the ball pops upwards, hit its side and the ball comes back to you.
The main thing to learn is the bounce. The ball leaves along the line from the middle of the slime to the point where they touch. Take it on the crown of the head and it goes up steeply. Take it on the shoulder and it goes out flat and long. A touch made while you are in the air adds extra lift.
Tips and strategy
- To send the ball forward, get slightly behind it. If you stand under it, the ball goes straight up and comes down on your own side.
- Every touch speeds the ball up, by a little over half its current speed plus a fixed kick, capped at about two and a half times a gentle return.
- A jump adds a fixed amount of lift to the touch. Use it near the net, where the ball needs to rise quickly to clear the top.
- A ball that hits the side of the net comes back at three-quarters of its speed, usually too low to save. A flat hit from close to the net is the usual cause. Clip the very top and it pops up instead.
- Early on, the computer misjudges where the ball will land by as much as two slime-widths and reacts slowly. Each point it loses tightens both of those and makes it faster across the sand. Each point it wins only partly undoes that, so it gets steadily harder through a match you are winning.
What's in it
Two modes, chosen on the home screen: One player against the computer, and Two player on one keyboard, with A D W for the left slime and the arrow keys for the right. In one-player you can also steer your slime by holding the mouse button or a finger towards where you want it to go. The board records the longest rally of each one-player match, counted in touches by both slimes. Two-player matches do not go on the board.
Questions
How many times can I touch the ball?
As many as you like. There is no touch limit and no rule against hitting it twice in a row.
Does the computer get harder?
Yes, within a match. It improves its aim, reaction time and speed every time you win a point, and eases off slightly when it wins one. Each new match starts it from scratch.
What goes on the leaderboard?
Your longest rally from a finished one-player match, win or lose, counted in touches. It keeps the top ten on this device, with three initials for each.
Can I play on a touchscreen?
Yes. Hold a finger to steer the slime, and tap to jump – or put a second finger down while the first is steering. The tap that serves does not also jump.